Fulfilling the Paradox
by Jamione
Summary: Harry and Hermione find out some earth-shattering news, which means they have to go to the Marauders era. But will they keep the timelines in order, or will they break all the laws of time?
1. Chapter 1: The Task in Hand

Chapter 1: The Task in Hand

_Disclaimer: I don't own, never will._

Harry gripped Hermione's hand tightly as he walked to the ruins of the headmaster's office. The gargoyle simply nodded at their arrival and let them in. Hermione winced and Harry understood why. The gargoyle used to be a dedicated sentry all day, every day, but now as they looked upon it they could only see their weary, battle worn faces reflected in the battered stone looking down at them. As they entered the crumbling, ancient room, Hermione gasped. Harry looked up and saw Dumbledore leaning against the charred remains of the once ornate desk.

"I know what you're thinking. I am not Dumbledore, just a recording, a human pensieve if you will. Albus designed me to tell you of your future, or shall I say past?" Here he chuckled at his private joke, while the two teenagers looked on confused. Harry looked around the office, and sure enough, there was the pensieve with a contraption, resembling a muggle projector, but without a lens.

"Professor?" asked Hermione, "should I stay?" As she turned to leave, fake Dumbledore gestured for her to remain in the room.

"Harry, have you ever wondered why you look so much like your father?" Harry looked worried about what would come next. "Well he is my dad, isn't it part of, um, muggle jeantics right? Hermione huffed 'genetics' under her breath, but let Dumbledore continue.

"In James Potter's second year, he got on the train as a messy haired, brown eyed boy, where he meets his soon-to-be best friends, worst enemy and future wife. However, an unspeakable from the department of mysteries found the last time-turner and has let Tom Riddle been born earlier. The effects have only just caught up with us, but now you must go. You must make sure the James Potter that gets on that train is a messy haired green eyed boy with a lightning bolt scar." Dumbledore finished, his eyes downcast waiting for the boy-who-lived's answer.

"I'd be my own father? And what about Hermione? She's only just getting over Ron being in St Mungo's, I can't leave now, there's too much work to be done restoring the wizarding world I can't possi..."

"...There won't be any wizarding world to repair if you don't go, and as for me, I can look after myself." Hermione looked at Harry with the kindest eyes she possibly could, she couldn't let Harry change the future for her, his hero complex really irritated her sometimes. She stepped towards him hugged him. Looking straight at him, she whispered, "I love you, enough to let you go and do what's right. So go, you have my consent. Which you shouldn't have to have if you weren't such a good guy! So, go, hurry up and change the future!"

"Um, Miss Granger," Albus looked at the two with a twinkle in his eye as he said, "You could go with Harry." He explained that, as she was a muggleborn, she could go by a different name in Hogwarts and no one would notice. "What surname will you go by?"

Hermione thought long and hard about it. What was the name of the place her parents went on their honeymoon again? The... something river. The Hudson? Yes!

"Hudson. Hermione Hudson. I've always loved alliterative names."

"I like that too. It'll be easy to remember." Said Harry, sneaking his arm around her waist to hold her closer, he was scared that she would be hurt like Ron. "Shouldn't we get going if it's this important?" He cracked a grin, but Hermione saw the worry in his eyes.

"Yes, but remember, you must follow the timeline exactly and be James Potter, not Harry. If not, you may never be born!"

Harry held Hermione close to him and listened to the words of the spell that was beginning to work around them.

_Change the name,_

_Save the time,_

_Keep the memories,_

_Understand the rhyme._

As the magic swirled around them, all Harry could think about was keeping Hermione safe in his arms and he knew that wherever they were, he wouldn't let her out of his sight.


	2. Chapter 2: Being James Potter

Chapter 2: Being James Potter

_Disclaimer: I don't own, never will_

_A/N: Halfway through the chapter, I will start referring to Harry as James, but Hermione still calls him Harry when they are alone._

Hermione open her eyes slowly and looked around. As she stood up, she saw Harry still on the floor and she smiled gently. His mouth was open and he was snoring, but he looked at peace for the first time since Sirius had died.

Sirius! Of course, Hermione realised, Sirius is alive and well, and so is Remus! She laughed and then turned around, realising she had woken Harry up.

"Oh Harry! I've just realised! Sirius and Remus aren't dead yet here, you get to really be their friend."

"Brilliant deduction Hermione, but right now, it doesn't look as though we're anywhere at all. Seriously, where are we?"

"Oh... I don't know. It's too dark in here to tell, but I guess a cupboard."

"This would be a really big cupboard, if both of us can lie down in it."

"Well done Mr Smarty-Pants, but before we can really ascertain where exactly we are in time and space, we might try to get out of here?"

Harry, still taken aback from being called such an immature thing from Hermione of all people nodded and started fumbling around. All he could find was air, air, more air...not air. Definitely not air!

"Harry!" Hermione yelped. "Get off!" At that moment the door opened and the amused face of a very young Sirius Black looked down at them.

"Hey James! Wow, we're not even at Hogwarts and you've already scored with a girl. Nice!"

James scrambled to his feet blushing beet red. Before he could explain however, Hermione had stormed past Sirius screeching, "Well, if that's how it's going to be!"

"Well done Sirius, she was my friend and now she thinks I'm a complete womanizer without respect for her! You idiot!"

"Woah, woah, mate, calm down. She'll be fine when you turn the Potter charm on and talk about her loudly in the common room, emphasising all her best features. Not that she seemed to have many though. You could have done a lot better."

"Sirius Orion Black! How dare you say that! Ha-James is a gentleman and cares about the other gender, unlike some pigs I know." Hermione came storming up the corridor and looked Sirius straight in the eyes. James, who at this point was turning bright red from being talked about so loudly, said,

"Well, thank you Hermione. Sirius, I know this sounds really dumb, but where are we precisely?"

"That must have been some encounter in the closet," Here both Hermione and James glared at him. "Okay, okay we're on the Hogwarts Express, and Remus will be looking for us in a minute. Hermione, I'm sure Lily will be worried, she's in compartment B2, if you've got amnesia as well."

Hermione made her way down the corridor, gently swaying from side to side with the train's motions. She remembered the cream-beige walls and old-fashioned compartments, but not vividly like she expected to, more as though she had once been shown a picture of a stereotypical train and now here she was standing in it. She continued onwards and finally found compartment B2, which inside seemed to be just like all the other rooms, with the addition of a young girl reading a book. Hermione smiled softly, realising this must be Lily, and knocked loudly, knowing from experience how easy it is to ignore quiet sounds when you're interested in a book. She went in and sat opposite Lily, and looked at her for ages, realising that this really was Harry's mum, and thinking how similar they looked, and how everyone lied to Harry, it wasn't just his eyes that were the same colour.

Lily Evans was a second year Gryffindor with straight red hair that fell down past her shoulders. Her petite nose was covered by a smattering of freckles, like Harry's in the summer, and her round, green eyes were shining as she looked up and saw her friend sitting opposite her.

"Hermione! You'll never guess what. Petunia left lettuce out for the hedgehogs two nights ago, and she swears she saw it stare at the food, look away and then tear up all of our vegetable patch! According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, she saw a knarl, lucky thing. She said I cast a spell on it. I really don't think she understand the whole restriction of under-age sorcery, but I did explain it to her, like, ten thousand times over the holidays. Oh, of course, how were your holidays?"

This was all said very quickly, and Hermione only really understood that she must be friends with Lily, Petunia already disliked magic, and Lily was practically a carbon copy of herself, with the research and the talking too fast, something she had never got out of the habit of doing. No wonder they were friends. She said something vague about a trip somewhere mundane, like camping in the Forest of Dean, and dismissed herself, saying she needed to change into her robes.

When she got to the toilets to change, she almost screamed. She was a second year again, with frizzy hair and a horrible spot threatening to form under her temple. She sank down to the floor. Having to go through adolescence again was not going to be the highlight of this adventure.

After changing, and being very relieved to see she was once more in Gryffindor, she walked back through the train, trying to find James and the rest of the irresponsible marauders.


	3. Chapter 3:Being James Potter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own, never will_

James shuffled into the train compartment, head slightly lowered. _What if they realise I look different than I did before? What if they don't like me, Harry, being James? _ He shook himself and looked at the mousy-brown haired boy in front of him.

"Remus!" James was filled with an overwhelming desire to hug his old professor, who was dead. His face fell when he realised he couldn't tell anyone that they were going to die, he couldn't save them. It was the one thing Dumbledore had insisted on.

"James!?" Remus replied, confused as to why his friend was looking quite so ecstatic to see him. "You're back. You do know I saw you a couple of minutes ago, right? Actually, why did you take so long?"

Before James could answer, Sirius butted in. "I would say you'll never guess, but it would be your first answer. James here, a man after my own heart, who even though at the end of last year said he would take a vow of chastity and respect all women, was caught by yours truly in a cupboard having a tryst with a bird. What was her name again? Henrietta?"

"It was Hermione and it wasn't a tryst, I thought it was the loo, she, well, I didn't like to ask, and we got stuck in there." James countered, thinking of a believable reason to have been in a cupboard with a girl. Remus, having got a decent, if boring, explanation, went back to looking out of the window. This activity was short-lived, however, when Sirius asked, as innocently as possible,

"So... if that's the case, and I'm not saying it wasn't, why were your hands on her breasts?" James looked up sharply, and seeing the stunned expression on Remus' face and the large smirk on Sirius', went scarlet.

"It... it was dark in there! You saw that when you opened the door!" James stuttered. "It was an accident, and we have put that behind us,"

"Or at least you hope." Finished Remus dryly. "James, we've heard it all before. Why can't you just admit you like being a ladies man?"

"Because I'm not! Hermione has forgiven me, and..."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, James Potter. Keep hanging out with Sirius and I may transfer to Slytherin and wreak my revenge."

"And what's wrong with me I'd like to know? I am a model student and everyone adores me for my wit and charm."

At this point, Remus burst out laughing, choking on a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean in the process. After a long time hitting his back, James looked up at the bushy haired brunette who had just walked in and gave her an apologetic smile. He was surprised to see her back again, thinking that she would never willingly support the marauders, people she complained about for making that rule breaking, if useful map, not to mention that Remus and Sirius irritated her to no end when she stayed at Grimmauld Place with them.

Hermione, on the other hand, was staring at James. He looked just liked she'd expected him to, just like Harry in second year, but seeing him like that after six years was very surreal, and made her feel rather sentimental. She saw that little boy, unaffected by the loss of his friends and family, surrounded by people who care. Her eyes filled up with tears and she stormed across the room and sat down next to him, despite the cat call that came from Sirius.

"Shut up Black! Just cause you can't get girls."

And as they laughed and teased each other, the Express rolled onto Hogwarts.

A/N: Sorry this is so late and short, had extreme writers block then life distracted me big time. I don't if you've read and enjoyed (or not!) so please review, as it does motivate!


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